Rowan
by Jadepiper
Summary: A new girl comes to Ravensmere in a time of mild confusion. A girl with a strange past and a love of plants. Is she what they need? Rating may change as story progresses.
1. Rowan

Chapter One- Rowan

Mai Kenward was driving back to Ravensmere from Salisbury in her husband's, James Kenward's, truck. The gardens at Ravensmere were doing beautifully and the remedies that she and Clare were making up with the herbs and spring water from the Raven were having seemingly miraculous results according to their customers. It was a far state from when she had first stepped the property more than seventeen years earlier. So much had happened since then, she reflected. She had met and married James and she had met Clare and Mark, the new Ravensmere Guardians. They had a handsome son now, Edward Brandon, who was the picture image of his father. She also had a young son, 11 year old Jamie, named for his father. But that depressed her. Everyone seemed to expect that she and James would have the famed Kenward daughter, to marry Eddie, the Aylward son. Jamie was a great boy, but if only he had an elder sister…then the traditions would go on.

Mai stopped momentarily in her reflections as she slowed to take a right hand turn and out of the corner of her eye she saw a figure working hard picking vegetables on a huge farm. Mai pulled over and stopped the truck. She watched as the figure moved back and forth along the rows, never ceasing in her work. The figure- she thought it looked female- also looked young, and Mai could use a young, new assistant. She moved to get out, turning her back to the girl briefly. When she turned around, a new person was out there, a woman by the looks of it. The woman strode over and started hitting the girl, striking her again and again to the ground. Mai hurried over, horrified. She caught snatches of the conversation as she grew nearer "…you worthless dog, you filthy pig…feed you and care for you and all you do is slack off and cause trouble. You…" she trailed off as Mai grabbed her arm. The woman struggled but Mai, her hands strengthened by years of gardening, was more than her match. The woman momentarily silenced, found her tongue again.

"Who are you to challenge me? I am here, minding my business and disciplining this worthless brat, and you come in. Who are you? Why I ought to…" Mai interrupted her swiftly, before she could say another world. The girl was inching slowly away from them.

"I do not care what you ought to do," Mai said forcibly. "It concerns me not. However, it is illegal to beat and hit children, and besides that, it is cruel and evil. Tell me she is not your child."

"That worthless whelp? Impossible. I foster her, have been for six months, the illegitimate brat and she isn't even grateful enough to do her chores properly and promptly." The woman was going to continue but Mai stopped her again.

"In that case, you will not mind if I take her and report you to the proper authorities for neglect and abuse to a foster child. Child," she said, addressing the girl. "You're coming with me. Get your things." Assured that the girl would do so, she turned back to the woman. "Your name?" The woman glared back at her, so Mai applied a little more pressure to her wrist.

"Ow, you're hurting me," the woman complained. "My name is Mrs. Matilda Carenswood. Let me go or else I'll report you for attacking me." Mai let go and the woman rubbed at her wrist. Mai's fingers had left red marks on her fair skin.

"Your threat is worthless and you know it," she replied contemptuously. Just then, the girl came walking towards them from the barn, carrying a tattered backpack on her thin shoulders. Mai beckoned her to follow, turned her back on the woman and walked towards her truck. She spared only a brief glance behind her to make sure that the woman was not following and had not tried to obstruct the girl. From all appearances, the woman had gone back inside her house. Mai and the girl got into her truck and they took off.

"My name is Mai Kenward and I promise I will not hurt you. You can call me Mai. What is your name?" The girl looked at her carefully, analyzing her trustworthiness, Mai thought.

"Rowan, Rowan Barton," she said, her voice low.

"Rowan, I'm taking you to Ravensmere. That's the estate I work at. I need to drop off these plants. Then I guess we'll go to Kenward Farm, my home, and we'll see what's going to happen to you. How old are you by the way?"

"Almost fourteen, I think." The girl said, again in that low voice. They were quiet after that. Mai used the time to observe the girl, trying to wheedle anything out of her appearance so she wouldn't have to ask later. The girl, Rowan, had hair that would be gold-brown if it were clean. As it was, it hung dirty and shaggy around her neck and shielded her thin tanned face and large silvery blue eyes. Her body was thin and as straight as a boy's. Even Mai could tell that she was undernourished and underfed. Her clothes were unclean and little more than rags, as were her tattered tennis shoes. She said she was thirteen, but she was about the same height as Jamie, who wasn't particularly tall for an eleven year old at 145 cm (58 in). She kept repetitively stroking her backpack. At first Mai thought it to be nervousness or a nervous habit, but it seemed after a while to be a calming motion. She soon found out.

"Meow!" said a voice. Mai looked over at the girl who looked positively terrified but could not have made that sound. "Meow!" it said again.

"Is that a cat?" Mai said, mildly amused. At the girl's hesitant nod, she continued. "You might as well let her get a little fresh air. Did you take her from Mrs. Carenswood's barn?" she asked.

The girl let the cat poke its head out of the bag and Mai saw that it was only a kitten, as half-starved as Rowan was. The girl nodded again, and then said hurriedly, "But she was going to kill her!" Her soft, low voice had risen in alarm. "The barn cat had kittens, four of them. I saw them being born one night and she drowned the other three when she found them a couple of weeks later. She didn't know this one existed I guess. Please don't make me get rid of her!"

"Of course not," Mai said calmingly. "I have a few cats of my own. Besides, she's adorable, just a little bit of fluff. How could I not like her? That woman was evil- I would never drown a cat. How old do you think she is?"

"I dunno. Two full moons have passed since she was born, but she was born a bit before the first one. Her mother looked after her for a while, but Mrs. Carenswood wasn't very nice to the mother either." The kitten, a tiny black fluff-ball with hints of white paws and belly seemed exhausted after her hard work getting outside the backpack and lay curled up in Rowan's hand. The girl's other hand was rhythmically stroking and eliciting a response as the kitten's body reacted. It was a calming and touching scene and Mai found her eyes drifting over there again and again for the remainder of the ride.

"See the wall there, to the left?" Mai, said after a while. "That's the outside wall of Ravensmere. We'll be coming up on the gate shortly. It's a beautiful place, Ravensmere. It's been around for more than thirty thousand years, they think. It didn't always look like this. It turned into a residence in the 1500s, and the same family has held it, and its traditions, ever since. I'm in charge of the gardens. Here's the gate." Mai hopped out of the truck and unlocked the iron gates, pushing them open in front of her. She drove through the gates, than closed them behind her. "There's no point in locking them anyway- we'll be leaving in less than an hour." Rowan hardly seemed to hear her. The girl was looking out the window and they drove down the long driveway, completely enraptured. Mai laughed softly to herself. She had felt that way herself just seventeen years before when she first drove down this road on her way to a job interview. It was a feeling hard to describe to anyone who had no felt it, but immediately understood by those who had. An idea began to formulate in her mind- an idea about keeping a girl who had already touched her heart.


	2. Ravensmere

Chapter 2- Ravensmere

There were no words for the feeling that encompassed Rowan when she first set her eyes on Ravensmere. It was as if the land itself was telling her that everything was alright and would always be. For Rowan, Rowan the orphan, Rowan the bastard, it was the first place she had ever felt truly at ease, and that she, who had never belonged anywhere, might possibly belong here. And this was just the feeling she got sitting in an old truck with a woman she had just met.

They drove down a long avenue that almost seemed golden in the late afternoon sun. It was an avenue bordered by huge lime trees, snaking its way through the vast and beautiful parkland, dotted by great oak trees sheltering the lazy sheep lying beneath them with their leafed canopy. In the distance, barely visible, was a herd of red deer that hardly started at the movement and unavoidable noise of the truck. They reached a black iron signpost at the middle of a fork in the avenue, and Mai took a left, in line with the arm that declared "Garden". They had pulled off the lime avenue, but this one was lined with a brilliant display of banked azaleas and flowering shrubs, some reaching higher than the truck. They passed a large, grand building made of creamy stone, and Rowan was amazed when Mai mentioned nonchalantly, "Stables. They converted it into living quarters about sixteen years ago. James, my husband, and I lived there for a while." She had thought that it was the House. They passed by a long hedge that was broken in places that could only be considered entrances. Rowan noticed odd, glass buildings rising over the top in places. Suddenly the truck stopped and Mai said, "Here we are. The greenhouses. You can hop out and check it out if you want." Rowan hardly hesitated. She dislodged the sleeping kitten and placed her on the backpack on the floor, then hopped out.

Mai was busy moving plants from the back of the truck to the greenhouse and wasn't entirely surprised when Rowan silently started to help her. From what she had observed about the girl, Rowan probably was expected to do things, told or not, and was punished when she didn't. She stopped when she first saw the greenhouse, her eyes growing wide and round. "Never seen a greenhouse before?" Mai asked smiling. Rowan shook her head. "Basically, they're places where plants can be sheltered from the environment, and kept before being planted. Certain ones are also used to keep flowers blooming all year round. I can tell you more about them later." She paused. "Why don't you run around for a bit while I finish up here? These are mostly the herb and vegetable gardens. I'll show you the formal ones later. You can see parts of the House through the trees and walls. Go on, run along. Stretch your legs. Don't be concerned if you see people around. They won't bother you and if they do, just direct them back to me." When Rowan seemed hesitant to leave, Mai physically turned the girl around and pushed her towards the remainder of the gardens. The girl followed the line of direction.

Rowan felt at ease, though she was in a strange place. She had always been good with plants. She didn't mind when Mrs. Carenswood made her work in her vegetable garden. It was very peaceful, gardening. Plants were so simple to understand. If they were watered and received enough sun, they were happy and content. She roamed around, occasionally bending over to smell a flower or check a plant. Everything was in prime condition. She half-hoped that maybe, just maybe she could prove herself useful, useful enough to stay here. Rowan had lost track of time when suddenly Mai's voice rang out, "Rowan?" Guiltily, Rowan turned and ran lightly along the pathways back to the greenhouses. She slowed as she saw Mai talking with another woman. She hesitated but obediently moved forward towards Mai's beckoning finger.

"This is Rowan Barton, Clare. I picked her up working diligently at a farm. I thought maybe to keep her for the meantime. Rowan, this is Dr. Clare Aylward."

"How do you do, Dr. Aylward, ma'am," Rowan asked quietly, lowering her eyes from the woman's direct gaze.

"Very well, thank you, Rowan, and I prefer to be called Clare. Feel free to wander around with ease as long as you're here. Any friend of Mai's is a friend of ours" Clare said firmly. She continued her conversation with Mai as Rowan tried to be invisible and sneak off quietly to the truck, to check on her kitten. Her head was spinning. Twice now, in a single day, she had met someone who had insisted that she, an insignificant child, call them by their given name. Never had an adult told her that, and treated her so nicely. She was as fascinated by this new woman and she had been by Mai, but she didn't trust either. It was too dangerous to trust, too dangerous to risk that trust being betrayed.

The kitten woke up, mewing, as Rowan opened the door. She caught the kitten before it escaped out the door and worked on soothing its pitiful cries.

"You know, she's-he's- probably hungry." Rowan turned around. Mai was leaning in the door of her truck, grinning. "And I'd imagine you are too. As am I. Let's go fulfill that requirement." She swung into the truck with practiced ease, started the engine, and they rolled away. Rowan, while caressing the kitten, stared out the window as more wonders of Ravensmere began to enfold before her eyes. She gave a small gasp of surprise and awe as they passed by the magnificent grand front of the House, a lush creamy stone pile rising out of the turf. It was like something out of a dream, looking golden in the late afternoon sun. There were rows of windows looking out like watchful eyes over the grounds and four tall pillars held up a portico over two flanking flights of stairs that led up to the imposing, double front doors. Mai laughed at the awestruck expression on Rowan's face. "Yep," she said. "The famous North Front of the House. Guaranteed to make everyone know that these were rich people indeed, and built lovingly over many generations. If my hunch is right, you'll have plenty of time to gawk over and roam about Ravensmere later. But for now, onward we go to Kenward Farm and food!" She laughed and the truck sprung forwards, dragging them away from Ravensmere.


	3. Kenward Farm

Chapter 3- Kenward Farm

Ancient gray buildings, sunken in the hill behind them, began to reveal themselves as Rowan and Mai moved steadily towards them. It was a place as ancient as Ravensmere, or more. Rowan looked at the top of the hill and saw something, some structure, though she wasn't quite sure what it was. Mai pulled the truck up and stopped.

"Here we are, Kenward Farm. Home for me, my husband, my son, and you, temporarily at least. Let's get some food," Mai said, happily. The kitten jumped off Rowan's lap with a mind of her own, and sauntered into the house like she's lived there all her life. Rowan followed more slowly. The house seemed almost too old to still be standing. The walls of the massive building were gray and the roof sagging and covered with lichen. There was a huge porch that led up to a door like a church. The smaller buildings flanking it were also gray and also old. Rowan copied Mai in banging her shoes off at the boot-scraper by the door and followed her into the stone-flagged kitchen.

"Here, you can wash up at the sink and take a seat while I find something for us to eat." Mai pointed out the sink for Rowan and turned her back to her, rifling through the pantry. Rowan followed the finger, and thoroughly washed her hands up to her elbows, and on second though, her face. She walked over to the worn wooden table and gingerly took a seat on one of the chairs. Mai walked over, dumped a plate of sandwiches on the table, and sank into another chair.

"Your kitten got milk, and it's cheese sandwiches on the menu for us today, I guess. Simple fare but satisfying, and it'll hold you over until dinner. Go on, dig in," Mai said, following her own advice. Rowan gingerly took a sandwich and bit into it, thinking that the slightly melted cheese on bread was close to the best thing she had ever tasted. Shortly, the plateful was gone between them.

"Well, with our stomachs taken care of, it's time for the next matter of business. I have a son about your size- I'm sure he won't mind loaning you some clothes until we can get yours washed. So, it's into the shower for you, and I'll see about finding you some clothes. I'll be in the kitchen again by the time you're done." Rowan blushed. She was ashamed that she was filthy, her clothes were filthy, and she longed desperately to be clean. She followed Mai upstairs, where they stopped at a bathroom and Mai handed her a clean towel, then left.

Rowan stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in the towel, feeling sparkly clean. She had even managed to get her knotted, greasy hair cleaned and it felt good on her neck. She noticed clothing stacked on a chair, and took it back into the bathroom. It was just jeans and a t-shirt, but they were clean. She hadn't had truly clean clothes since before she lived with Mrs. Carenswood. The feeling of the fabric sliding against her skin felt wonderful. She shivered in delight at the sensation. There was a hairbrush sitting on top of the counter, but Rowan hesitated borrowing it. However, her want overcame her hesitation and she used it forcibly against her wet hair. Most of the mats had disappeared in her liberal use of soap, but she took care of the smaller tangles and got it to lie flat against her head. Carefully, she pulled out all the hair that had gotten stuck to the bristles and started back towards the kitchen. There was something about cleanliness and putting on clean clothes that changed a person. Clothing was like armor, and hers had been darned, patched, mended, and filthy.

Rowan stopped suddenly at the head of the stairs. There were voices down there- Mai's, a lower man's voice, and higher boy's voice. Probably the husband and son that Mai had mentioned earlier. The apprehension that had started to fade away was back full force at the strange voices. They were talking softly and Rowan couldn't make out what they were saying she was caught between going down there and staying up there. Mai had hinted for her to go back to the kitchen when she was done. She obviously didn't belong down there. Warring with the desire to please was the fear of the people. Mai was nice, but that didn't mean the rest of the family would be as accepting. Slowly, gathering her courage in ribbons to her, Rowan softly tread down the stairs, stopping at the foot.

The scene before her looked as though she'd always imagined a family to be. Even the kitten fit the family scene- lapping up dry cat food from a saucer on the windowsill. Mai was moving proficiently around the kitchen, undoubtedly preparing dinner. A man was seated at the kitchen table, set for dinner, talking to Mai. His back was to Rowan and all she could see of him was broad shoulders, a relaxed posture, and short, curly ginger-colored hair. Next to him, a boy was seated. He looked slightly younger than Rowan, and was the oddest mix of Mai and her husband that Rowan ever saw. He had the golden brown skin of his mother and the curly red hair of his father. His eyes were dark and slanted slightly, like Mai's. It was he who saw her.

"Hullo," he said. His voice was cheerful, boyish soprano and he gave a wide steady smile. "Mum, she's come down." Mai turned around and looked at her.

"Rowan, come meet my son, Jamie and my husband, James," she said, coming to stand by the man who had just risen from his chair. He held out a hand.

"Hello Rowan, I'm pleased to meet you," he said, the low tenor that Rowan had heard earlier. She reached out and put her own hand into his. He shook it softly and gave it back to us.

"Hello, Mr. Kenward," she said softly, taking a quick futile glance to his face. He was fair-skinned under just a touch of a summer's tan, and had soft, cheerful brown eyes that smiled at her.

"It's James- we don't hold with that sort of the thing at home. You remember that," he said, almost laughing. She nodded her head in agreement, not trusting her voice. He steered her down to a seat next to him, across from the boy- Jamie, his name is Jamie, she reminded herself- and she obediently sat in the chair that he pulled out for her. It was awkward- no one had ever pulled out a chair for her and waited until she sat before sitting back down.

Rowan listened as the Kenwards made small talk with each other. They were shortly joined by Mai, who sat a steaming dish in the middle of the table and plopped a basket of warm bread next to it. She took the last seat in the table and starting serving. Rowan waited until everyone else had started eating until dipping in herself, even though it looked so good. She hadn't had a meal like this in ages. It was only a hotpot, a stew of lamb and potatoes with some onion and other seasonings in it, but it was delicious. This was a far sight from the stale loaf-ends and leftovers that Mrs. Carenswood had feed her.

She ate quietly and mannerly, with an ear cocked to the conversation that was going on around her. She heard Jamie talking eagerly about a day seeing a friend and hanging out with "Dad" while he ran some errands for Ravensmere. She gathered that he didn't own Ravensmere, but ran it in a sense, with the title of "estate manager" or maybe it was "land agent". She wasn't really quite sure of what they were talking about. As she ate and listened quietly, she did not notice Mai watching her- watching her tucking into the food like a starved animal, watching her reactions around James and Jamie, watching her impeccable table manners. Watching and wondering, not for the first time, if Rowan could be part of their little family. She wouldn't mind, James seemed to like her, and Jamie was frankly fascinated. It would be good for her and for them.

After the meal, Jamie cleared the table and Mai led Rowan upstairs. She showed her into a room with a single bed, a desk, and a wardrobe. It was sparse in Mai's eyes, but from the shine in Rowan's eyes, it must be like stepping into a castle and having it all to yourself. She left Rowan alone for a moment, and stepped into Jamie's room next door, returning with a pile of clothing in hand.

"Here are some pyjamas for you when you're ready to go to bed. In the meantime, you can join us for some telly, or stay up here and sleep or read or whatever you feel like doing. Just decide, and come down if you choose to or not," Mai said lightly, walking out the door. She paused in the doorway and turned back to Rowan. "Oh and Rowan, just one more thing- I'm glad you're here."

Rowan sat down on the bed, with as much a thump as a body as small as hers could make. A whole room of this size, all to herself! As Mrs. Carenswood's she had slept in the stables, and at the foster home before that, it had been in a room with a bunch of other girls and she didn't even have a corner to call her own. This was… palatial, to say the least, and the Kenwards were kind to her, though for no apparent reason. This thought circled back to Mai's offer- watching the telly. It had been a long time since Rowan had actually watched telly- sometimes she'd catch a glimpse of it through a window, but no more. Going down would also give her a chance to see her kitten. Warring with that was the painful knowledge that this was not her family, no matter how nice they were to her. Like going down to the kitchen, she would be entering another family scene and this one even more intimate. She knew she was nothing but an intruder, and even under their welcoming motions, they knew it too. She longed with her very soul to be part of a family, any family, and it seemed as though someone was taunting her cruelly, to keep her just on the outskirts of one. It was comparable to rubbing salt in an open wound.

Finally, she came to the conclusion that she would just peek down and try to find her kitten. Quietly, so as not to creak the floorboards, she crept back down the stairs and into the kitchen. From the noise coming from the other side of one wall, that must be the family room. She crept slowly, using the shadows to cover her motions, and peeked in. her subterfuge was unnecessary- the Kenwards were concentrating on the telly, facing away from Rowan. Again she was struck was a family scene, and again her heart wretched, knowing that it could never be a part of one. James and Mai were seated on the couch together, his arm resting across her shoulders and her head resting on his shoulders. Jamie was laying out flat on his stomach on the rug, laughing at something the man on the telly said. There was a tabby cat curled up with a gray cat on a chair, and a tiger-stripped cat in the rug by Jamie. Her own kitten was nowhere to be seen, until she heard a soft purr around the vicinity of her feet. Rowan looked down to find a happy black kitten twining its way around her feet. Rowan scooped the tiny kitten, which weighed a little more it seemed, and left the family scene.

Mai didn't miss the purr, or Rowan's soft footsteps on the stairs. She decided not to push herself on the girl, and so had not revealed her knowledge of Rowan's hiding place. Mai did wish however that the girl would become more comfortable around them eventually, and that they could keep her long enough for that "eventually". Later, after she put Jamie to bed, she opened the door just a crack to Rowan's room and peeked in. The girl was sound asleep on her bed, dressed in Jamie's pyjamas. She lay on her side, facing the wall, with her knees partially tucked, and a tiny black kitten curled up next to her. Mai tread softly in and looked down at the sleeping girl. Sound asleep, she looked younger than her thirteen years and her clean face looked perfectly innocent, and perfectly vulnerable. Mai felt a maternal pull towards the girl deep in her heart, and decided that this was where she truly belonged. She would do everything in her grasp to keep Rowan here, and raise her properly, with a family. She reached down and lightly brushed a strand of her off the girl's forehead, before leaving to talk to James about her.


End file.
